Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I used tastebook.com as a gift for my bridesmaids, my mom and my MIL. I was able to upload my own photos and put stories in so I could "dedicate" a recipe to each of them. It was a HUGE hit and they all loved it.

I did have some issues with it though. I suggest putting all your recipes into word and then copy and pasting it - more than once I'd get done typing a recipe into tastebook and then it wouldn't save. I also couldn't figure out a way to change any recipes I downloaded from epicurious, so I ended up having to retype those. It also seems to encourage plagarism - I adapt a lot of recipes, so when I tried to put in "Adapted from Emeril Lagasse's. . ." (I wanted to give credit!) it would flag it for violating the terms of use, but if I took that line out I was fine.

I do love the finished product though!

Although I haven't made a recipe book yet, I have successfully used Word for similar projects. My one tip for those who decide to use Word is this: make sure you allocate adequate space in "Margins" for the vertical "gutter" that runs down the binding side of your pages, and select "Mirror Margins" if you plan to print on both sides of the paper. Otherwise, you could have your recipe butting right up against whatever your binding material is (spiral, comb, 3-ring, etc).

I put all of the recipes on a CD and put it in the back of the binder when I made my cookbook for my daughters. That way if a recipe gets damaged or comes up missing they can reprint it. And my oldest daughter made copies for her best friend whe she went out on her own.

Years ago my kid sister [now 58] put together something like that when I became a single parent. She typed and dot-matrixed printed them, put each page in a plastic sleeve and put them in a 3 ring binder. The plastic sleeves protect the pages in the kitchen and also from age a bit. I've added to it quite a bit over the years [the 3 rings] and when Sis' daughter grew up I sent her a copy.

How about somebody starting a site or flicker group where we can post a few photos of our family books?

Dont forget the strange stuff your family eats at holidays, given any, both sides of mine has a few :)

@glrambeau-I love the idea of the string looped between tiny hooks under the cabinets! But I'm short, and the bottom of my cabinets are still below eye level. You don't find yourself stooping and squinting into shadows to read the recipes you hang there?

@bobcat-does the print on the "Rite in the Rain" All-Weather Copier Paper adhere well? I've used similar products where the print wears off over time, depending on the type of ink and printer used. Do they suggest one type of printer over another when using their DuraCopy product?

Have you considered to do an online version of the book. You have one year to write it online. Can add pics and also videos of you cooking. I also liked the print idea dont get me wrong.... Cheers, roberta

@Jilly - Thank you so much!

Sounds like even a complete computer illiterate (like me!) could do that! Thank you so much for your post.

The quality of the paper from Lulu was excellent. It has a coating on it so you can wipe off the sticky fingerprints (if you want). It has a stitched binding and I'm not sure long term how durable that will be, but so far, so good.

@NotAmerican - I'm putting in a BUNCH of recipes, so the more I think about it, the more I think I should go with a pro, not Kinko's. They screw up all my office stuff, so why should I trust them with my cookbook? I did like the two online sites that were suggested, so now I'm going to be choosing between those. I'm thinking of printing maybe 5 copies, but maybe more.My concern is the paper quality - does anyone know if the paper weight is good quality and durable if you specifically use the outline for cookbooks on blurb.com and lulu.com?

For my sister's wedding, my mother put together a family recipe book that was a combination of everyone's favourite deserts from both sides of the family. She had it made into a little ring-bound book and gave them to everyone at the reception as favours.

If you're only having a few printed, comb binding is the way to go...otherwise, you're looking at £4-5 per book just for binding alone, and that's with a big order.

You might consider asking the printer to hold on to your details and asking the rest of the family if they would want a copy for themselves. Oddly, the more copies you print, the cheaper it gets.

I would urge against Kinko's and other chains in favour of your local print shop. Kinko's employees don't necessarily know anything about printing. You could save time and money by going with an independent shop. Give them as much time as you can.